


Tulips

by onetruethree



Series: 12 Days of Luka [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop & Tattoo Parlor, Angst, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Past Character Death, Touch-Starved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-09-28 04:24:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20419865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onetruethree/pseuds/onetruethree
Summary: Every day, Adrien went to work at the flower shop his mother left him when he died. And every day, he would see the tattoo employee that worked next door who made him feel feelings he thought he had lost the capacity to feel a long time ago.





	Tulips

**Author's Note:**

> 12 days of Luka by lukacouffaineappreciationmonth on tumblr  
Day 2: Lukadrien

Every day, Adrien went to work at the flower shop his mother left him when he died. And every day, he would see the tattoo employee that worked next door who made him feel feelings he thought he had lost the capacity to feel a long time ago.

“You have to talk to him one of these days, you know,” his friend, Marinette would always tell him. After romantic tension between them fizzled out, she was very involved in finding him someone, especially because she felt partly responsible for him being alone. It sometimes felt like she was bragging whenever she would hang out with her girlfriend in front of him.

“I know.” And he did. But he was nervous, and he was convinced he would mess it up if he ever did try to talk to him.

So when he showed up at the shop, Adrien nearly had a heart attack. “Hello, welcome to Agreste flowers,” he greeted, his voice shaking. He could hear Marinette giggling next to him and he shot her a glare before the tattoo employee made his way to the counter.

“Hey there, I’m Luka. I work next door, and I wanted to buy some flowers. What do you recommend?"

Adrien prepared his answer, hesitating so he didn't stumble through it. “It depends what you’re buying them for, but tulips have always been my favorite.” Adrien didn't mean to imply anything romantic between him and Luka, but it definitely came off that way.

Luka just smirked and thumbed through his wallet. “Okay, I’ll take a dozen.”

Adrien looked at him, surprised. “Really? Okay. That’ll be 44 dollars and 15 cents." He was happy that Luka was buying something, but a bit disappointed as well, because buying flowers probably meant he was dating someone.

Luka handed over the money and waited as Marinette handed over his bouquet. "Have a nice day," she said.

"Thanks," he said, quieter and more restrained than before, as if he had suddenly lost his confidence. He left quickly without another word.

"Adrien!" Marinette scolded, hitting him playfully on the arm. "That was your chance to ask him out. You don't know when the next time he'll buy flowers is, and you for sure aren't going over to his shop any time soon."

Adrien sighed. "But he was buying flowers. He's probably dating someone."

Marinette put her face in her hands. Adrien was helpless. "Adrien, I highly doubt that. He seemed really into you. And you'll never know if you never ask." She was trying to remind him of the fact that she was in love with him for years and he never knew. She didn't want him to repeat that all over again.

Finally, Adrien actually did catch on. "Cover for me.” He ran as fast as he could out the door and tried to catch up to Luka, but it has been too long and he was already inside. It took all of Adrien's courage, but he managed to open the door and go inside. Everyone looked up at the interruption, including Luka, but Adrien immediately chickened out and went to sit down in the lobby area.

"Excuse me, young man? Do you have an appointment?" Adrien looked up to see the lady at the counter talking to him. He just shook his head, too nervous to say anything else. He was actually pretty scared of needles, so he was trying his hardest to not look in the direction of the tattoo artists. "Do you want one?" Adrien realized it would probably be pretty rude to stay there if he wasn't going to buy anything, so he stood up and made his way to the counter.

There was no way he would actually get a tattoo, but he decided it would be a good way to get to talk to Luka.

"First tattoo?" The receptionist asked, and Adrien nodded. "Thought so. Do you want to look at designs, or do you have one in mind?"

That was when Adrien really looked around the store and saw art all along the walls. The receptionist slid a book across the counter that Adrien saw was full of designs for every kind of tattoo. He was surprised to find that some of them were actually really pretty. If only it weren't for the needle, Adrien thought it would be cool to get one.

"Adrien?" Luka said as he caught sight of him from across the room. Adrien looked over and saw he actually wasn't busy tattooing anyone.

"Hey, Luka." Adrien watched as Luka made his way to the counter.

"Gina, I'll take care of this. He'a friend."

The receptionist, who was apparently named Gina, nodded and Luka pulled Adrien away and towards his tattooing station.

"Do you really want a tattoo, Adrien?"

He didn't, but he wasn't giving up now, and he didn't want to leave without at least talking to Luka. "Yes."

Luka held back a laugh; Adrien was the last person he expected to get a tattoo. "Okay, well I have a few designs, or if you want a tulip, I can sketch something up real quick.

"You drew these?" Adrien asked. He had seen these designs, but he didn't know it was Luka who drew them. "They're amazing. You're really talented, Luka."

He could've sworn Luka turned a little red, but he dismissed it as his mind playing tricks on him. "Thanks, Adrien. That means a lot." He motioned to the chair, inviting Adrien to sit down. He complied, a little shaky from even the thought of getting a tattoo.

"So, have you always wanted to run a tattoo shop?" Adrien asked, trying to stall as best he could with small talk.

"Well, I do love tattoo art, but I've actually always had a passion for music."

"Really? Me too."

"What do you play?"

"Piano."

"My band could use a keyboard player." Luka had seen Adrien hundreds of times, but he never never knew he was into music. He regretted never talking to him earlier.

"When are you free to play?" Adrien loved the idea of playing in a band with Luka, even if it was just once. "I have work every day, but the next time I have free time is the 14th."

"The 14th? Isn't that Valentine's day?"

"Oh, I guess you're right. But it's not like I'll be doing anything; I don't have a valentine." Adrien had actually never really had a valentine, even though he has had many admirers. He was just never the best at dating.

"Me either. But isn't that a busy day for flower sales?"

"Yeah, that's why I take that day off every year. It's always chaotic, and I didn't really go into the flower business to deal with chaos."

"I usually take the 14th off too. There’s always way too many drunken couples getting matching tattoos. But I doubt the other members of the band will be free. They all have valentines." Juleka and Rose had been dating for years now, and they usually went out on a big date on Valentine's. The same went for Ivan and Mylene.

"Well, we could just do it alone, play just the two of us," Adrien suggested, his voice quieting in embarrassment. He wanted to play with Luka as soon as possible, even if that meant the rest of the band wouldn't be there.

"Okay then, it's a date."

* * *

Adrien ended up not getting a tattoo; he told Luka about his fear of needles, and Luka understood. He also told Adrien that if he ever changed his mind, he would give him a free tattoo.

Marinette was very surprised when Adrien told her about what happened. “You asked him on a date?” She asked, genuinely proud that Adrien was able to pull it off.

"No, it's not a date date."

"He called it a date. And it's on Valentine's day." She couldn't believe how dense he still was, even after everything. "Well, whatever it is, good luck. I think he could really be into you."

"You think?" Adrien really hoped she was right.

"He came to the flower shop to talk to you, he obviously didn't actually need flowers. And he did agree to your "date" or whatever it is. That means he's interested in you, at least in some way."

"Thanks, Marinette. You're a good friend," Adrien told her and, for once, Marinette was glad he said it.

* * *

Finally, Valentine's day came, and Adrien wasn't ready for their "date" in the slightest. It turned out that Luka lived in the apartment above the tattoo shop, which was similar to Adrien's own living arrangements, and they were to have their date there. Adrien was surprised to find out they had been neighbors this whole time without even noticing, but he was more surprised that he had previously had enough courage to agree to this. He was practically shaking when he got to the building and was greeted by Luka's smiling face.

"Adrien! You made it!"

Adrien followed quietly as Luka walked him to his apartment. He was also excited to see him, but his mind kept wandering to what Marinette had said, and he wondered if this really was a date.

Then, Adrien caught a glimpse of flowers that looked very familiar. "Are these the flowers that you bought from me?" He didn't think he would keep them.

"Yeah, I actually didn't even need flowers back then, I just wanted an excuse to talk to you. But they are really pretty."

Adrien tried to suppress his growing blush.

They made it to his living room, which seemed to be made into a makeshift band practice area.

"Sorry, I know this isn't the best place, usually we practice on my mom's boat, but she's busy today, and--"

"No, this is fine. This is great."

Adrien started to set up his keyboard, and Luka did the same for his guitar.

"What kinds of songs do you know?" Luka asked, hoping there would be some songs they could play together.

"I mainly know classical songs, but I've always been good at sight reading if you have the music."

Luka looked through his music and pulled out a few songs and handed them to Adrien, who in turn looked through them. They seemed to be mainly a bunch of love songs.

They played through a few, and they were all pretty mushy, full of cheesy lyrics. Luka sung along to some of them, which Adrien thoroughly enjoyed. He briefly wondered if there was anything Luka couldn't do; he seemed talented at almost everything. Each song made his heart swell more as he was more and more convinced that Luka shared his feelings, and playing these songs together made Adrien feel even more connected to Luka than before.

Then, they ran out of songs. This didn't seem like such a big deal, but Luka handed him another song, their fingered touched ever so slightly, and shivers went down Adrien's spine. "Luka," he started to say, not sure of what else to do as Luka leaned down to kiss him, and then...

Adrien panicked and pulled back, seemingly opposed to the idea of kissing Luka.

Luka immediately apologized, feeling bad enough for trying to kiss him without even asking, and feeling worse that he apparently didn't reciprocate his feelings. "I'm sorry, I think we had different ideas as to what this was."

"I guess so."

"So you don't want to go any further than being friends? Are you sure?" Luka inched his hand towards Adrien's until their pinkies touched.

Adrien panicked again. “Luka. I need to tell you something. Promise you won’t be scared off by it?”

“Promise.”

Adrien took a deep breath and continued. "My mom died when I was thirteen, and my dad locked himself in his room for three days," he blurted out, trying to explain to Luka what had been going on in his head ever since they met. Luka listened intently. "My mom died, and I never got so much as a hug. He still won't talk to me; I guess I remind him too much of her." He tried to hold back tears; he hadn't told anyone except Marinette about this, and he certainly didn't expect to be telling Luka this soon. "My best friend was in love with me for years and I didn't know it because I didn't even know what love looked like. So, I'm sorry if I seem confused, or dense, or blind. I do like you, Luka. But I don't think I'm ready to kiss you just yet."

Luka smiled. “Adrien, thank you for telling me that, and I'm sorry for your loss. It's okay if you don't want to kiss, I completely understand. But is it okay if I hug you?" He thought Adrien could really use a hug, and he wanted to cheer him up in any way he could.

This surprised Adrien, and he thought through the question. "Okay. I'm okay with that."

Luka slowly wrapped his arms around Adrien, carefully so as not to hurt him in any way. At the slightest touch, Adrien's heart caved in, and he leaned into the hug, reciprocating it and wrapping his own arms around Luka. Every inch of Adrien's skin that touched Luka's burned with longing, a relief feeding his starvation for touch with the smallest of gestures. Soon, he couldn't take much more and leaned his head forward, resting his chin on Luka's shoulder. "Luka," he managed to say, his mouth only inches away from Luka's ear. He felt a few tears fall onto Luka's shoulder, but it was a good feeling. Cathartic, almost, like he had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

“I think I could get that tattoo now. If you’re there to hold my hand.”

“Of course.”


End file.
